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Delonte West
Delonte Maurice West (born July 26, 1983, in Washington, D.C.) is an American professional basketball player in the guard positions for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. High School Career West went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he excelled. He led the Raiders to their first tournament appearance. They made it all the way to the Maryland 4A championship, where he had 22 points and 8 rebounds, but they lost 70-58. He was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year due to his average of 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.1 steals per game. He scored double figures in all but one game his senior season. He then signed with Saint Joseph's University. College career At Saint Joseph's he formed what was widely regarded as the best backcourt in the country along with Wooden- and Naismith Award-winner Jameer Nelson, averaging 23 points and 9.7 assists per game and shooting 71% from three-point range as a junior. His efforts helped the Hawks to go undefeated (27-0) in the regular season, and earn an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Saint Joseph's finished the season at 30-2. NBA career West chose to leave St. Joe's after his junior campaign and was selected by the Boston Celtics as the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. In his first season he struggled with injuries, playing a total of just 39 games, mostly coming off the bench. He averaged 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. After making the transition to point guard in his rookie season, West was named the starting point guard at the beginning of the 2005-06 season by head coach Doc Rivers. In 2005-06, West averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 4.6 APG. On February 12. 2006, he was named to represent the Celtics on the sophomore team for the Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. Coincidentally, he replaced his college teammate Jameer Nelson, who withdrew because of injuries. West was moved to the shooting guard spot in the 2006-07 season, but showed signs of difficulty early in the season. He was later moved back to the point guard position. West has had some clutch shots, including a game-winning buzzer-beater against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006, and a game-tying three pointer with 4 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the game into overtime against the New Jersey Nets on March 3, 2007. The Celtics would eventually win the game against the Nets. The next day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, West scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-high 12 free throw shots, in a double overtime Celtics victory. West scored all 31 of his points in that game during the second half, including the two overtimes. At the end of the 2006-07 season, he was sharing starting minutes with Rajon Rondo. 2007-2008 On June 28, 2007 (during the 2007 NBA Draft) the Celtics traded West to the Seattle SuperSonics, along with Jeff Green (their 5th overall pick) and Wally Szczerbiak. Boston received Ray Allen and Sonics' 35th overall pick Glen Davis. On February 21 2008, West was part of a three-team trade which sent him, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was reunited with his Saint Joseph's teammate Dwayne Jones. As a Cavalier, West played in 26 regular season games (starting all 26). As a Cavalier, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He had a season high 20 points against the Boston Celtics only six days after his trade to the Cavaliers and a season-high 11 assists on March 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the entire season, West played in 61 games (starting 31) and averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds. On April 27 2008, West made perhaps the most clutch 3-pointer of his NBA career with 5.4 seconds left in a playoff game against the Washington Wizards, in Washington. His tiebreaking game-winner took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 3-1 lead in this first round series. In 13 playoff games, West averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds. West scored 21 points in both Game 3 and Game 5 against the Boston Celtics. 2008-2009 West later signed a three-year $10.7 million contract with the Cavaliers on September 12, 2008. NBA career statistics Regular season Playoffs External links *ESPN.com Player Page *Boston Celtics Player Profile *Delonte West Yahoo! Player Profile Category:Celtics players Category:2004 players Category:2005 players Category:2006 players Category:2007 players